Raspberry Pi B+ Enclosure

As promised in yesterday’s post, I’ve finished the 3D printing component of making the Raspberry Pi B+ enclosure, downloaded from Thingiverse for free (click here to get the files to print your own). Rather than using the original top half, I’ve used the remixed version with the air vents cut through the top (click here to download the separate file from Thingiverse).

The first image above shows the settings I used printing with the ‘Up! Plus 2‘ printer. Print time for the larger pieces was just over 2 hours each, with the only problem being some lifting on the ‘base’ part of the enclosure, shown in image 2. For the top of the enclosure I adjusted the print plate 0.2mm closer to the nozzle, and had no lifting problems at all. I’ve also heard of people using spray adhesives or a water-soluble glue to help hold corners of large prints down, but I really prefer not to do this if possible. Maybe the ‘top’ piece printed better simply because the plate had already reached maximum temperature after printing the ‘base’ for 2 hours? As anyone using 3D printers knows, there are so many variables!

In image 3 you can see that I’ve already spray painted the ‘base’ piece in a grey colour to match the original NES console. Now I’m just tossing up whether to go all out and paint the rest of the model to match, which I’m very tempted to do just for the fun of it! As mentioned in yesterday’s post, the custom ‘Nintendo’ logo I created and combined using MeshLab has printed perfectly, and this will get some red paint to really pop. I might also upload this part as a remix onto Thingiverse in the coming days once I’ve completed everything, giving you access to this exact design.